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Airway responsiveness in low birthweight children and their mothers
K N Chan1, C M Noble-Jamieson, A Elliman
1Paediatric Department, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.
Insights
Children born with low birth weight show higher airway responsiveness to histamine. This responsiveness is linked to family history of asthma, but not maternal factors, suggesting genetic influences over maternal ones.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Allergy and Immunology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Low birth weight is a potential risk factor for respiratory issues in children.
- Airway hyper-responsiveness is a key feature of asthma.
- The role of maternal factors in offspring respiratory health is under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate airway responsiveness in children born with low birth weight.
- To explore the association between airway responsiveness and family history of asthma.
- To examine the potential role of maternal factors in offspring bronchial hyper-responsiveness.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study of 7-year-old children.
- Comparison between low birth weight cohort and a reference group of schoolchildren.
- Assessment of airway responsiveness to histamine.
- Collection of family history of asthma, including maternal history and maternal asthma prevalence.
Main Results:
- Increased prevalence of airway responsiveness to histamine in low birth weight children compared to controls.
- Airway responsiveness was significantly associated with a family history of asthma in first-degree relatives.
- No significant association found with maternal asthma history or maternal airway responsiveness.
Conclusions:
- Low birth weight is associated with increased airway responsiveness in childhood.
- Genetic predisposition, indicated by family history of asthma, appears more influential than maternal factors.
- The hypothesis linking maternal smooth muscle irritability to premature labor and subsequent bronchial hyper-responsiveness in offspring was not supported.
Abstract:
In a prospective study on a cohort of 7 year old children of low birth weight (under 2000 g at birth), we observed an increased prevalence of airway responsiveness to histamine compared with a reference population of unselected, local schoolchildren. The airway responsiveness to histamine was significantly related to a history of asthma in first degree relatives (natural parents and siblings) in both groups of children, but not to that of the mothers. There was no increase in the prevalence of maternal asthma, a family history of asthma, or airway responsiveness in the mothers of low birthweight children. We were unable to find evidence to support the hypothesis that maternal smooth muscle irritability (uterine and airway) has a causative role in the premature labour in the mothers and in subsequent bronchial hyper-responsiveness in their prematurely born children.